Nightmare's Reign
by BattleRocket
Summary: Kirby thought he had beaten Nightmare when he had destroyed his ship. He was wrong. Now, defeated and in an unfamiliar planet, can our star warrior save Popstar again from this old foe?


Hey there everyone! BattleRocket here! This story's one that I've always wanted to write, and Elemental Aquamarine's helping me! This first chapter's written by me though, so enjoy!

_Disclaimer: I do not own Kirby. Kirby is (c) Masahiro Sakurai. All Kirby characters are (c) Masahiro Sakurai. All other characters are (c) BattleRocket and Elemental Aquamarine, and may not be copied in any way or form without permission from either BattleRocket or Elemental Aquamarine first._

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**Prologue**

Night had fallen on Dreamland, shrouding the usually peaceful village in a dark and gloomy mist. From the distance, all looked peaceful and well, but deep inside Dreamland, things couldn't have been worse for the cappys.

Metal clashed against metal, as sword met sword. Kirby, the star warrior and savior of pop star, was locked in battle with four hovercrafts. The four vehicles were four different shades of colors, the black, white, blue and red each representing one of the different elements of that demon beast. On top of the vehicles were four figures that looked like Kirby himself, though they were a musky shade of grey, and each wore a pair of jet black sunglasses over their eyes. They pursued the star warrior relentlessly, not giving him any time to rest before they lashed out against him again.

Kirby was on his own hovercraft, the warp star that had been his partner for countless millenniums. It's shine was still brighter than ever as Kirby ducked and weaved, either avoiding the attacks or fending them off with his sword, as he was in his strongest copy ability; sword Kirby. The tops and arrows thrown at him bounced harmlessly off of the glinting steel blade as he raised it each time to deflect the oncoming assault.

The battle went on for hours, looking much like a race. Sparks and pieces of metal flew out in all directions at the village, and the cappys scattered in all directions to avoid the dangerous steel shards. Mothers hurried their kids inside, and villagers hid in the safety of their homes, while braver cappys, such as the sheriff and the mayor, stood by and watched, waiting to give Kirby any assistance he needed.

The battle had been going on for days, far too long for any of the cappys to remember. Ever since the day that Nightmare had suddenly returned, far more powerful than he had last been, things had taken a turn for the worst. The king, DeDeDe, had been driven out of his own castle, and those of his royal guard not killed or enslaved had followed him for refuge. The castle had now belonged to Nightmare Encorporations, giving Nightmare access to the king's demon beast transporter, and more power than any of the villagers had imagined him to be capable of having.

This news had reached Kirby's attention fairly quickly, as the star warrior had always been near the planet of Pop Star, just on his star craft in the star belt surrounding Pop star. When he confronted Nightmare, battle ensued. Nightmare sent out his four commanders; his four most powerful demon beasts that had been rumored to have been created from shards of the warp star itself. As the two foes met in battle, the village became a battlefield. Cappies were no longer permitted outside of their homes, the essential daily needs were a small price to pay for their survival. The fact that they could even peek out of their homes without being hit by flying metal and debris was a rare occasion. The minutes stretched into hours, then days. Every day, the cappys would convince themselves that the battle would be over the next day, and each day, their hopes were crushed by the sound of metal against metal when they woke up. The chase would sometimes go on for days, each foe fighting as hard as they could, but not gaining any distance on their opponent.

From the distance, a dark figure loomed in the topmost window of what had once been the king's castle. Nightmare, the demon beast creator, stood watching the battle rage on in the village. His eyes gleamed as his demon beasts chased Kirby, but ruffled his cloak impatiently as it became increasingly clear that none were gaining any distance on each other.

"Getting impatient?" A voice inquired from the background, screen in front of him flashing as he typed in some symbols and letters into a holographic computer. The voice was smooth and quiet, though it was clear that the owner of it was a sly demon beast, perfect for being Nightmare's number one advisor.

Nightmare sighed, the breeze carrying his voice towards the corner of the room. "Of course not, Customer Service." He replied, the tone of his voice sounding like nails scratching on a chalkboard. "It's been so long though, I had expected better from my commanders."

The one called Customer Service chuckled. "I don't think the resistance will last much longer." He assured his master. "Look, the star warrior has already begun to tire from his endless fighting." A bony finger extended out, and Nightmare's eyes followed its path until they landed on the target. What Nightmare saw made the demon beast laugh with pleasure.

The Star warrior was indeed faltering, his speed slowing down dramatically since the first day the battle had begun. Every once in awhile, he would even pause, barely managing to dodge a blow from the demon beasts before resuming his battle stance. Despite the encouragement from the villagers, Kirby was tiring immensely, the lack of sleep and food catching up to him. As he came to a halt once more, the commander riding the red star took out a top-shaped gun, and fired, red flames erupting from the mouth as she shot exploded towards the star warrior.

The shot was true. Kirby let out a scream as the shot hit full force, burning him on the arm and sending him tumbling off of the warp star in a pink heap. The Warp star hovered next to him, awaiting its master's next command.

A second later, the star broke into a million star shards, scattering all over the houses and into the atmosphere. The commander on the black hovercraft had fired a black arrow; silent, yet deadly, piercing through the center of the warp star as if it had been a light cloud floating in the air.

Kirby's green hat and sword faded away as his copy ability vanished. The four commanders hopped off their hovercrafts and walked over to the warrior, one of them pushing his face up to the pink warrior's, face pulled back in a sneer.

"Not so tough now, are you?" He sneered at Kirby. "You're not the only one that's gotten stronger over the years. Our master remade us after you beat him the first time, and this time, he made us better." His face was so close now that Kirby could see the moonlight glinting off of the jet-black glasses. "Most importantly, he made us strong enough to defeat _you._"

Despite the severe injury he had received, Kirby still managed to push himself up to face the demon beast with a defiant snarl. "You tell your master that he won't get away with this-" The sentence was cut short as the demon beast kicked him in the arm, causing Kirby to wince with pain again.

"Don't tell me what to do!" The words came out as a snarl of pure hatred as the demon beast continued to kick Kirby. The star warrior tried to deflect the blows with an arm, and succeeded in lifting it up halfway before it fell, sending him into a deep state of unconsciousness.

The demon beast stepped back with a last kick at Kirby's still form, sharp teeth still glinting in the moonlight as he beckoned to his companions. "Pick him up." He growled. "Master said he wanted to deal with him personally." His companions nodded, walking over to Kirby and hoisting the star warrior up onto their shoulders, balancing him between the three of them as they started to walk towards the castle, the leader close at their heels.

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Darkness greeted the four commanders as they marched silently into the castle. The leader raised his gloved hand in a signal for his companions to stop, his black sunglasses looking around nervously as he searched for Nightmare.

"It's about time you beat him." The grating voice sounded from one corner as Nightmare materialized, striding up to his lead commander without so much as a sound. "I expected more from you."

The leader made a slight bow to Nightmare, which was quite hard, considering that his entire body was round and unbendable. "I apologize, master." He muttered. "The star warrior was stronger than we had expected him to be. His skill has improved immensely since the last time we fought."

"No matter." Nightmare dismissed the subject with a wave of his bony hand. "You have defeated him now, and that's what matters." His black eyes gleamed as he nodded towards Customer service. The figure nodded, and a second later, the room transformed. Out of the rug, came a tall pedestal-like machine, hanging from the ceiling to the floor in a straight line, with a glowing light in the center of them. The screen hung from the wall, indicating the demon beast to be created or transported. The flashing light moved slowly from create to transport as Customer Service pressed a red button on the holographic keyboard in front of him.

Nightmare smiled as he grabbed the foot of Kirby in his hand, fingernails digging into the soft skin. Kirby didn't stir, and Nightmare dragged him slowly towards the light that was growing brighter by the second. A nod was exchanged from him to Customer Service. A second of silence passed. Then, Nightmare took Kirby, and threw him towards the transporter. The light exploded as Customer Service pushed a button, right as Kirby's form collided with the transporter.

A second of blinding light followed.

Then, darkness.

Out of the darkness, only Nightmare's voice could be heard. The demon beast's lips were pulled back in a wide grin, the ends of his sharp fangs showing pale in the moonlight.

"And now, Dreamland is mine!"

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**What do you think? This idea's been sitting in my head for awhile now, but it's finally out in writing now! Hope you enjoy it. Be sure to R&R!**


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